Stones inspire gardens in Miami

While vacationing in the Northeast last winter, Wayne and Judi Keehart were blasted with the intensity of the infamous snowstorm that held people captive in their own homes.

As they navigated the Pocono Mountains trying to steer their way through banks of Pennsylvania snow, the Keeharts found a treasure.

"We found this rock stuck in the ice during that storm," Judi says, pointing to it at the edge of the garden.

Her water garden "disease," as she calls it, had grown so strong she couldn't imagine leaving the stone behind. The Keeharts chiseled it out of the ice and drove over 900 miles, keeping watch over the stone like a secret they couldn't wait to tell.

Although it may never speak of its travels, Judi's winter stone shares the hillside with Midwest rocks that also represent significance for the family. The white stones that comprise the garden's retaining walls are from the Marshall Livery Stable, established in the 1860s.

"Our garden has provided us with a neat piece of history," Judi says.

And she's right.

A majority of the materials used in her water garden have historical significance. The pump house foundation came from the original Van Meter School House--reported to be the first schoolhouse in Saline County. The historic building was converted into a home when Wayne's parents purchased the property.

The pump house also claims blocks from Keehart Furniture Store; a tin roof with copper lightning rods and barn wood all came from the 1860s Copeland Farm.

Wayne, along with their son Jon, built the water gardens themselves, including a stone walkway that curves up the slope to Judi's bird feeding station. Each stone was put in place by father and son.

The landscape is also dotted with the bonsai trees that Wayne tends to. With every step another bonsai peeks around a corner or soaks up water that sprays off the stones.

Next door, Bret and Elizabeth Kennon share a love for rocks. They hope to collect one from each state but already have something in their water feature that many people won't see in a lifetime.

"This was found when excavators were digging the site for the house," Elizabeth says.

She's referring to the large glacial rock that sits decoratively along the side of her landscape pond. The rock is quite round and grainy, as though it was rolled across a wide stretch of land, and lacks the bumps or carvings that are found with flowing water erosion.

Elizabeth has continued her grandmother's tradition of collecting rocks, which is how many of them came to be in her water feature.

"The kids think it's a lot of fun," she says.

Both homeowners are considering constructing additional water features. Judi and Wayne will add a gazebo and possibly a pondless water garden wrapped around their home. Elizabeth plans to show her glacial rock to visitors during the next Water Garden Tour.

Friends of Jim the Wonder Dog will alternate water garden tours with Christmas homes. The next planned Show-Me Water Garden Tour is summer 2012.

Contact Sarah Reed at marshallreporter@socket.net

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